You may recall a few years ago I printed a story here I had just gotten published in magazine. It was about how my friend Chris and I were sailing a small boat in a thick fog, at night, navigating by compass, when we heard the sound of an engine in the dark, and saw the red and green running lights of a boat headed directly toward us. After flashing our light and blowing a whistle, the boat altered course to pass close astern of us, and we got a good look at it. It was a Viking dragon ship, just like in the movies. Its sail was furled, and her oars were shipped, but it was definitely a Nordic war galley. It was a startling sight, and we were so flabbergasted by it we didn’t even note the anachronism that such a medieval craft should be powered by a diesel engine and have electric running lights. This event would have occurred sometime in the mid-1970s.

Later, the next day, I read in the local paper a group of Norwegian sea scouts had sailed a replica Viking longship across the Atlantic and were visiting Florida on a good will cruise. This is a story I have told many times for laughs over the years, because it was so bizarre and unusual, and I published it because of its “Twilight Zone” aspect.

After many years, I finally tracked down and got a hold of my old friend Chris, and we recently spent some time reminiscing about about our many old sailing adventures.

Chris did not remember the Viking ship story. I personally can’t imagine how anyone could have an experience like that and forget it, so I am forced to conclude that either he wasn’t with me that night and it was someone else, or that I made the whole thing up. I distinctly remember it was him, and I vividly remember the incident, but he draws a total blank. I also remember my “reading in the paper about the Norwegian sea scouts”. Could I have made that up too? Either he has totally lost a memory, or I manufactured one out of thin air. Perhaps I dreamt the whole thing, and simply remember the dream. I don’t know. But I do know for a fact I didn’t make it up. I’m not lying, but it apparently still wasn’t true. It was a false memory which I can now identify as being false because the witness I honestly expected to corroborate my story honestly could not.

That makes three of these false memories I have been able to identify. There may be others. Its a pretty sobering thought. We all know we can forget, but downright unconscious fabrication is something else altogether.